Less than 24 hours after London’s Leicester Square was a sea of green for the “Jurassic World Rebirth” premiere, it turned blood red Wednesday, swapping dinosaurs for the infected as “28 Years Later” had its world premiere.
The cast and crew of Danny Boyle‘s horror sequel — including Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and 14-year-old newcomer Alfie Williams — hit a carpet littered with biohazard signs and, at least in one section, several skulls.
The film — releasing via Sony Pictures on Friday — arrives almost a quarter-century following the iconic and genre-redefining original “28 Days Later.” Set nearly three decades after the super-contagious rage virus escaped from a biological weapons factory and ravaged the U.K., the new movie sees the Isles now a quarantine zone: a desolate wasteland isolated from the rest of virus-free Europe and where the infected roam free and survivors are simply left to fend for themselves.
“We came back to this after 23 years away, and it was the story and ambition of it,” Boyle told Variety. “Because it’s set across three films, it’s like a trilogy and you very rarely get a chance to do that. It’s also entirely set in Britain, with an almost entirely British cast. But that’s a wonderful thing to make a film about your home country, and to try and make it on as large a scale as possible.”
Boyle and the majority of “28 Days Later” stars may be red carpet veterans. But for his young lead Williams, who plays Spike, a young lad living with his mother (Comer) and father (Taylor-Johnson) in a small island community of survivors, the entire experience was a first.
Variety spoke to him earlier in the week in his first major interview, but since then he’s been in near back-to-back press junkets and photocalls. “It’s been crazy you know, but also exciting and a lot of fun,” he said on the carpet, noting that his parents had made the trip down with him from the north of England (which is where the film is based). But the premiere itself, he said, was the “most exciting” of all.
Comer, sporting a shimmering metallic silver gown, told Variety about a special connection she discovered shortly after first meeting Williams, with both of them having had their early careers impacted with the help of “Adolescence” star and co-writer Stephen Graham. Comer has previously spoken highly of how Graham had assisted her when she was she breaking out, while Williams said Graham had recommended him to his agent Maddi Bonura at Independent Talent (who also now reps “Adolescence” breakout Owen Cooper).
“Stephen is constantly wanting to give back and help and credit to the man that he is,” she said. “But it was lovely when I met Alfie and was like, ‘No way!’ when his dad said Stephen introduced him to Maddi, so it was amazing,” she said, adding that “Stephen should start a talent agency!”
Also at the premiere was Sony Pictures film boss Tom Rothman, who hailed a relationship with Boyle that dates almost 30 years, back to when he was president of production at 20th Century Fox and shepherded 1998’s “A Life Less Ordinary” (Boyle’s first film after “Trainspotting”).
“When you’re in the hands of a great artist like that, really what you want to do is just get out of the way and support them the best you can,” he said. “Danny understands that the studio always has issues, but it’s very, very good natured. Needless to say, it’s been very productive, one of the most productive relations in my career.”
Boyle, meanwhile, smiled when he described his many years working with Rothman as a “combative relationship, but also a respectful one.” He noted that the exec had been “wonderfully supportive,” and not just to him.
“He invests in British film, and God bless him that he does that,” he said, noting that Rothman has made an “even bigger investment” in Sam Mendes’ upcoming quartet of Beatles biopics.
Rothman admitted that going back to a franchise like “28 Days Later” after such a long absence was a “risk,” but said that was part and parcel of the industry.
“There’s always a risk. If there’s not risk, what are you doing?” he explained. “My high school coach told me a long time ago: no balls, no glory. If there’s no risk, there’s no fun. You have to take risks. You’ve never been able to be in the movie business without risks.”
Sony has doubled its risk with its return to Boyle’s infected Britain, with a second film “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” already shot, with Nia DaCosta as director and a release date set for January next year.
But a third “28 Years Later” film in Boyle’s new trilogy is still waiting to be greenlit.
As for what was need for it to get approval, Rothman said: “That easy — we just need the audience to like it.”
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